A Complicated Legacy
Taking the throne amid a sea of political chaos, King Yeongjo of Joseon immediately began shaping his kingdom up through severe reforms, all of which stemmed from a desire to help his people and lead them to prosperity. However, he was a very different man behind closed doors, and he wasn’t above taking equally drastic measures when one of his children became a monster—albeit one of his own making.
1. He Had A Dream
Whether through his great achievements as a ruler or his abominable actions as a father, King Yeongjo would inspire many stories—though some were more fantastical. The first came from before he was even born, when his father, King Sukjong, awoke from a dream in which a priest came to visit him. Thinking this might be more than a vision, he sent his men to check and, sure enough, they found a Buddhist Teacher sitting outside the palace gate.
Believing this was a sign, he wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by.
2. He Prayed For Them
Inviting the High Buddhist Teacher, Yeongwonseonsa, into his palace, King Sukjong took advantage of this chance visit by asking his esteemed guest for a favor. Hoping for a second son, the King asked for a prayer over himself and the Queen, a request the priest had no reason to refuse. The prayer worked, and the following year, in 1694, the Queen gave birth to a new son, Prince Yeoning—the future King Yeongjo.
Luckily, the King was able to set Yeongjo up for life—before it was too late.
3. He Gave His Orders
King Sukjong knew that Yeongjo was born for greatness, but at the same time, he already had an heir to the throne in his firstborn son, Crown Prince Yi Yun. Therefore, to secure his younger son’s future, the King gave instructions to make Yeongjo the next in line after Yi Yun, especially since the Crown Prince had no children of his own.
Of course, not everyone was happy with this decision.
4. They Wanted Him Instead
Yi Yun’s time finally came when, in 1720, King Sukjong passed, and the Crown Prince took the throne as the new King Gyeongjong, but this didn’t go over well with everyone. Those of the Noron political faction remained unsatisfied, as they didn’t want Gyeongjong on the throne at all, and strongly urged him to abdicate to Yeongjo.
They wouldn’t give up on their goals so easily—but neither would their enemies.
5. They Reframed It
All efforts from the Noron to convince the new King to give up the throne were futile, especially since they weren’t the only players on the board. On the opposite end, those in the Soron faction were big supporters of King Gyeongjong, and they managed to oust several Noron officials by claiming their opponents were trying to overthrow the King.
Nonetheless, the King went through with the plans in place—for better or for worse.
6. He Got A Promotion
Beyond the fact that King Gyeongjong wanted to honor his father’s wishes, he still had no children, and therefore no natural heir of his own, so he named Yeongjo the new Crown Prince. Of course, this worsened the already tense political landscape and escalated the conflict between the warring factions.
While this was what their father had wanted, it only put Yeongjo in more danger.
7. They Wanted Him Gone
Just as the Noron faction had failed to stop Gyeongjong’s ascension, the Soron weren’t too happy about Yeongjo becoming next in line for the throne—so they decided to take him out. There had been rumors of a white fox seen sneaking around the palace, so, pretending they simply wanted to hunt the creature, armed members of the Soron entered the palace with the intent to eliminate the new Crown Prince.
Fortunately, Yeongjo caught wind of this first—and he had had enough.
8. He Went Into Hiding
Yeongjo likely suspected the Soron of such a plot, and as he discovered their true intentions, he knew exactly what he had to do. Finding temporary safety with his adoptive mother, Queen Dowager Hyesun, he finally approached his older brother and stated he would much prefer to live as a commoner than face these dangers.
Still, this wouldn’t put a stop to their schemes for long—especially once there was another change in leadership.
9. They Blamed Him
The Soron would face yet another major setback to their plans when, only four years after his accession, King Gyeongjong suddenly passed—and Yeongjo was still alive. Quickly pivoting their schemes, the faction began making wild accusations that the Crown Prince had taken his older brother’s life to get the throne.
In reality, even if they were right about Yeongjo’s motives, he wouldn’t have had to go to much trouble.
10. He Was Already Sick
While it wasn’t totally clear what claimed the life of King Gyeongjong at the time, this worked in favor of the Soron, as it was all the easier to implicate Yeongjo. However, judging by the symptoms the late King experienced before his passing, most scholars now believe he more likely succumbed to severe food poisoning from bad seafood.
Even if it granted him the throne, the theory that Yeongjo was responsible has one major flaw.
11. He Had No Cause
From an outside perspective, it would have been easy to assume that the Crown Prince wanted to eliminate his older brother to take the throne—but this seems unlikely. According to historians like Homer Hulbert, no part of Yeongjo’s character suggested he would even think of such an act, especially considering how anxious a leader he became himself.
Either way, the rumors weren’t enough to stop what was already in motion.
12. He Took Over
Despite all the attempts to keep him from reaching the throne, and even though he didn’t always want to be the Crown Prince, Yeongjo was still the only viable candidate after the passing of King Gyeongjong. Therefore, on October 16, 1724, he faced his destiny and ascended to the throne as King Yeongjo.
Luckily for him, he already had the future of his reign secured.
13. He Kept It A Secret
Going into his tenure as the 21st ruler of Joseon, Yeongjo already had something that his older brother had lacked—a natural heir. While his father was still on the throne in 1719, Yeongjo had welcomed the birth of his first son, Hyojang, but as Yeongjo’s mother had passed only a year prior, he kept the news from the public eye. However, now that he was King, he saw no issue in naming the young Hyojang the new Crown Prince.
Unfortunately, he faced his first major challenge as King almost immediately.
14. They Rose Against Him
Repaying the support he received from the beginning, King Yeongjo undid much of the damage that the Soron had done, reinstating many Noron officials who had recently lost their positions. This didn’t go over well with the Soron faction, and, allying with the more extremist Namin faction, they fought Yeongjo in the 1728 Musin Rebellion.
Yeongjo had witnessed these underlying problems his whole life—but he had a solution.
15. He Tried To Unite Them
If the Musin Rebellion was an indication of anything, it was that the rifts between Joseon’s political factions were tearing the kingdom apart—something Yeongjo had known for years. Hoping to heal these fractures, the King thought it would be a good idea to implement a new policy of equal recruitment between the factions.
This didn’t work out how he wanted—and his enemies played dirty.
16. They Spread Rumors
Seeing the King’s new policy as detrimental to their goals, those behind the Musin Rebellion began publicly criticizing Yeongjo to change the narrative in their favor—though these weren’t new accusations. The rebels not only claimed that Yeongjo was behind his brother’s demise, but that he had never been a legitimate heir to the throne in the first place.
Without any other choice, Yeongjo went with a much firmer course of action.
17. He Stamped Them Out
Yeongjo had tried to handle the rebels peacefully, but at the end of the day, they gave him no other option but to fight them head-on—and they didn’t stand a chance. As they marched on the capital city of Hanyang, Yeongjo ordered his forces to meet them and put their rebellion down, which the royal army did almost effortlessly.
Meanwhile, his family continued to grow—and he wasn’t shy about picking favorites.
18. He Loved Her The Most
King Yeongjo had many children throughout his life, but while most would only have horrible things to say, one saw a completely different side of him. In 1727, he celebrated the birth of his third daughter, Princess Hwapyeong, who would grow up to be the apple of his eye. In fact, even though the older Princess Hwasun married first, Hwapyeong’s dowry later in life was at least 10,000 times greater than her sister’s.
Sadly, Yeongjo was about to face a much more personal crisis—one he would never recover from.
19. He Lost His Heir
While 1728 would see King Yeongjo put down the Musin Rebellion and cement himself as the new King of Joseon, it would also bring one of the worst tragedies of his life—and put the future in doubt. His firstborn son, Crown Prince Hyojang, had fallen extremely ill with an unknown ailment, and at only nine years old, he lost his life to it. Losing not only his eldest son but also his heir, the King never got over this loss.
Nonetheless, he devoted himself to being the best ruler he could be—but his wisdom didn’t come from nowhere.
20. He Used His Philosophy
Although Yeongjo had never been particularly keen on ruling as King, he would turn out to be one of Joseon’s most effective because he had a good foundation to back it up. During this period, Korean Confucianism had grown especially prominent, and Yeongjo was a dedicated student of it, even proving to be more well-read than most of his staff.
At the same time, this prompted him to place the blame for his people’s problems on one man—himself.
21. He Felt Guilty
Yeongjo’s ceaseless efforts to improve his Kingdom didn’t just come from his own virtues, but also from a much more detrimental feeling—fear. He couldn’t help but feel terrified that the welfare of his people hinged solely on how good a man he was, believing that any natural disasters they suffered were a direct result of his immorality.
He did everything he could to improve their well-being—and in more ways than one.
22. He Helped Them Learn
Although Yeongjo diverted many resources to improve his people’s financial situations, he also believed in giving them the tools to help themselves. Providing the peasantry with collections of educational books, he hoped to teach them the skills to improve their own lives, especially through agriculture.
For the betterment of his people, no decision was too drastic—even when it came to his own livelihood.
23. He Sacrificed His Comfort
Even with his strides in education and efforts to prove his goodness, King Yeongjo’s people still faced great hardships, especially as extreme weather destroyed their crops. Realizing the kingdom would have to make some sacrifices, Yeongjo didn’t exclude himself from these measures and even reduced the usual amount of food he ate to share with his people.
Still, he didn’t rely on his own wisdom alone to help them.
24. He Heard Their Voices
Yeongjo had countless solutions bouncing around his head for how to improve his kingdom even further, but while he trusted his own decision-making, he knew it wasn’t the be-all and end-all. In an unprecedented action, he stepped outside the palace himself and approached his people, asking for input from everyone, whether they were high-ranking officials or peasants.
At the same time, there were certain situations he had far less patience for.
25. He Wanted Them Out
Although Yeongjo tried to practice equality in many ways among the varying factions and classes in Joseon, there was one group he couldn’t abide. Declaring Catholicism an evil practice, he later became the first Korean King to push back against the religion’s rising popularity by banning Roman Catholicism completely in 1758.
However, these weren’t the only people he wanted gone.
26. He Trusted In Him
For someone as anxious as Yeongjo, it was even more important to surround himself with the right people—and one man had already proven himself worthy. During the Musin Rebellion, an official named Park Mun-su had set himself apart through his actions in service to the King, and Yeongjo thought he could use him. Appointing him the Secret Royal Inspector, the King tasked him with rooting out corruption among the other officials.
Of course, while Yeongjo was improving his kingdom, he only made things worse behind the scenes.
27. He Was Disappointed
After the loss of his son, Yeongjo continued to have children in the hopes of raising a new Crown Prince, but this didn’t work out as he had wanted. Each new child that came along was another daughter, so by the time he and his Royal Noble Consort, Yeong, welcomed the new Princess Hwahyeop in 1733, he had grown utterly fed up.
Even as she grew older, this anger didn’t go away.
28. He Kept Her Away
King Yeongjo never got over his animosity toward Princess Hwahyeop, and although she did everything possible to make him happy, the only thing he could think of when he looked at her was that she wasn’t male. Even as she grew up and married, he extended his icy attitude to her husband and forever refused to stay under the same roof as her.
Soon enough, he finally got what he wanted—or so he thought.
29. He Was Sickly
In 1735, after having six daughters in a row, the King had his wish granted at last with the birth of his second son, Crown Prince Sado—though it was a rough start. The new Prince’s health began failing early on, and when he was about ten years old, he became so sick that he was bedridden and falling in and out of consciousness. Fortunately for him, however, he made it through this illness.
While the King was surely relieved to have a son and heir—no one would know it from how he acted.
30. He Was Hands-Off
Perhaps it was the devastating grief from losing his first son, or maybe it was because he prioritized his royal duties, but whatever the case may be, King Yeongjo didn’t care about raising Sado. What began as simple neglect, with the King’s courtiers taking the brunt of Sado’s care and education, soon turned into impatience and bitter resentment.
This created yet another horrible relationship with one of his children—but arguably even worse than the others.
31. He Was Scared Of Him
Although Yeongjo hoped the new Crown Prince would be his perfect successor, Sado wasn’t exactly what the King had envisioned. This led to more hostility from Yeongjo, who often intentionally lashed out at the young Prince in front of others. As a result, Sado not only grew to hate his father, but also to fear his presence above anything else.
As a silver lining, this only brought him closer to his siblings—especially those who could relate to him.
32. She Empathized With Him
As heir to the throne and the King’s only son, Sado received the lion’s share of Yeongjo’s attention and mistreatment—but that didn’t mean he was alone in that. As his older sister, Hwahyeop, knew nothing but contempt from their father, she soon grew close to her new brother over their shared hardships.
Of course, she wasn’t the only one trying to help him.
33. She Tried To Help
While Sado and Hwahyeop continued to face their father’s anger and disappointment, King Yeongjo took all the love he was withholding from them and focused it on his favorite child, Princess Hwapyeong. However, she wasn’t too happy about this either, and always stood up for her younger brother when he and the King would get in fights.
Sadly, even beyond this dysfunction, tragedy hadn’t finished with the Royal Family.
34. He Lost Another Child
Through the virtues of her kindness, Princess Hwapyeong somehow managed to remain beloved by both her father and siblings—which made what happened next all the more heartbreaking. Expecting her first child in 1748, she tragically passed due to complications while giving birth, and Yeongjo was once again overcome with a grief that would follow him for the rest of his life.
This, unfortunately, left room for a new golden child to take her place.
35. He Chose A New Favorite
Coping with the loss of his favorite daughter, King Yeongjo wasn’t sure what to do now that he had no one to shower with his praise and affection—so he picked someone else. While he could have taken this as a wake-up call to treat Sado and Hwahyeop better, he instead began showing favor to his ninth daughter, Princess Hwawan.
Meanwhile, he continued to mold his son into the next ruler—whether he wanted it or not.
36. He Gave Him A Command
Whether through his own limited instruction or that of his officials, Yeongjo hoped to get his son ready to lead as soon as possible, and he thought the best way was to throw him in the deep end. In 1749, he gave Sado control over most of the kingdom’s administrative affairs when he appointed him as Regent—even though the Prince was only 15 years old.
Even while they both tried to do their duties, though, more heartache was on the way.
37. He Lost Them Both
By 1757, Yeongjo had already suffered through more than enough loss for one person, but that year would bring him and his family even more grief—and in quick succession. Not only did his wife, Queen Jeongseong, pass that April, but only a month later, Yeongjo’s adoptive mother also met her end. To make matters worse, Crown Prince Sado had been especially close to both women, further damaging his already fragile mental state.
With all these losses, Sado began lashing out at everyone around him—and in the worst ways possible.
38. He Became A Monster
Yeongjo continued to treat Sado more and more horribly, and as his closest sister, Hwahyeop, had also passed in 1752, the Crown Prince now had few others to help him cope. Left to his own devices and his worsening mental illness, Sado turned his rage on the palace staff, taking the lives of any servants he could find whenever he felt like it, and frequently forcing himself onto the ladies-in-waiting.
It was only a matter of time before he targeted the true source of his suffering.
39. He Lashed Out At Them
Even though Sado’s atrocities were usually the result of his own cruel parenting, Yeongjo could usually overlook these rageful acts—until he became the target. As the royal family celebrated Sado’s birthday in February 1760, something pushed him over the edge, and he began screaming at both his mother and father. The already displeased King was now even more outraged and knew something had to change.
While this wasn’t the last straw yet, it wouldn’t be far behind.
40. He Tried To Take Him Out
Sado’s mental state had deteriorated to the point where he would commit unspeakable acts at the drop of a hat, which was bad news for one official who got into an argument with him in 1762. Believing the best revenge was to take the life of the official’s son, Sado snuck into the Upper Palace to commit the deed, but failed as he couldn’t find his target.
Nonetheless, word spread around the palace quickly, and one woman couldn’t stand by any longer.
41. She Wanted Something Done
Sado’s incursion into the palace became the talk of the court as many guessed his motives—and even came up with some of their own. Soon, the gossip was that Sado was actually attempting to take his father’s life, and while this wasn’t true, it deeply disturbed the King’s Royal Consort, Yeong. Believing it proved how great a risk Sado was to herself and her grandchildren, she finally urged the King to do something about his son.
However, even if he agreed, this was easier said than done for several reasons.
42. They Were Also At Risk
Yeongjo decided the only way to deal with his son’s heinous actions and the risk he posed to the kingdom was to execute him, but doing so came with one major complication. The only other heir to the throne was Sado’s son, Yi San, but the law at the time stated that if Yeongjo executed the Crown Prince, Sado’s wife and son would share the punishment.
Still, this wouldn’t deter him from going through with it—especially after he came up with a twisted alternative.
43. He Chose Another Way
Unable to eliminate his son through an official execution, Yeongjo thought of a more elaborate method that stooped to a new low of cruel discipline—even for the King. Choosing an especially sweltering day in 1762, Yeongjo ordered Sado to climb into a wooden rice chest before tying it shut with rope.
Then, adopting his parenting style from Sado’s early years, Yeongjo simply turned a blind eye.
44. He Left Him Inside
Covering the rice chest with grass, Yeongjo had the box containing Sado placed in the Upper Palace to bake in the summer heat—but this was not a quiet end for the Prince. For seven days, Sado cried for his father to let him out and for anyone else to help him, but these pleas went unanswered. As he went silent on the eighth day and the King’s men opened the chest, they finally declared that he had perished from dehydration.
With such a brutal execution, Yeongjo could have easily inspired a new cycle of revenge—but someone stepped in.
45. She Helped Him Move On
The Crown Prince had earned himself a reputation for being vengeful, and considering Yeongjo executed him in such an unnecessarily cruel way, he faced the risk of Sado’s young son, Yi San, taking after his father. However, he had Yi San’s mother to thank, as she convinced the 11-year-old to let go of any anger he had for the King.
As time went on, certain details were eventually called into question—including Yeongjo’s motives.
46. They Doubted His Sickness
Seeing as Yeongjo had already been the subject of several conspiracy theories, it wasn’t a far leap for many to think there was something fishy about Sado’s demise. Some started to claim that those in Yeongjo’s court had lied about the Crown Prince’s mental state to justify his execution, but as several records state—including his wife’s own words—he was clearly suffering from a mental illness.
Fortunately for Yeongjo, he still had someone to take over as heir—he just needed to fudge the paperwork.
47. He Changed The Family Tree
Although Yeongjo still technically had an heir in his grandson, making Yi San the new Crown Prince wasn’t so easy since Sado’s legitimacy had become a bit more ambiguous. To get around this issue, Yeongjo had the royal family’s records changed to show Yi San as the child of his first son, Crown Prince Hyojang.
Yeongjo had spent the first years of Sado’s life ignoring him—and he wasn’t about to stop now.
48. He Avoided The Topic
Although Sado’s legacy was called into question after his demise, Yeongjo ultimately chose to restore his title as Crown Prince after a couple of weeks—but that didn’t mean he totally had a change of heart. In fact, the King was so opposed to respecting his son’s memory that he forbade anyone from speaking Sado’s name for the rest of his life.
Still, he would eventually meet his own fate—even if it took longer than expected.
49. He Took Care Of Himself
Starting from early on, Yeongjo was no stranger to severe health issues, but he still managed to survive them all—and with a new outlook. For the rest of his days, he tried everything he could to improve his health, and while many might have called him overly cautious, he actually achieved results. Passing in 1776, he had the relatively uncommon fate of succumbing to old age in his 80s.
In the end, while history celebrates Yeongjo as a great King—he was more than just one thing.
50. He Was A Complex Ruler
Among the many rulers of the Joseon Dynasty, King Yeongjo made history by truly improving the lives of his people and ruling through the virtues of wisdom and righteousness—but that wasn’t his only reputation. Through the execution of his only surviving son, his own failings as a parent became a part of his legacy as well, forever intertwined with all the good he did across his 52 years as King.
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